Brick
by Praetorian Guard
Summary: For months Haley has entrusted Lucas with a dark secret, but no secret can stay a secret forever...One-shot songfic based on the song 'Brick' by Ben Folds Five.


Disclaimer: None of the characters from One Tree Hill belong to. I'm just temporarily borrowing him and (unfortunately) I'm not getting paid for it. The song "Brick" belongs to Ben Folds Five and company. Please don't post this story anywhere else without my permission. Author's Note: This story is based on the song 'Brick' by Ben Folds Five. When you're finished, please write a review telling me what you think, and please be honest. If you like it, that's great. If it sucks, tell me why, and what you think I should do to make it better. Enjoy, and as always, thanks for reading!  
  
Brick  
  
Lucas woke up to the unwelcome sound of the alarm clock buzzing on his night stand. Six o'clock in the morning, the day after Christmas. It took a few moments for his brain to register the reason why he had set his alarm. When the fog finally cleared and he remembered, Lucas sat straight up, suddenly wide awake.   
  
Lucas stumbled out of bed and threw on some clothes and his coat. He grabbed his car keys and shoved his wallet in his back pocket. The darkness of his house was suffocating and he longed to escape it. As he stepped outside, Lucas was greeted by a wickedly icy blast of winter air and the smell of the cold engulfed him.  
  
Lucas unlocked his car door and slid inside. The seat was freezing, but he hardly noticed as he started the engine and backed out of the driveway onto the empty street. There wasn't another car to be seen on the road. It seemed to Lucas that the whole world was sleeping. No one else was awake at this hour. No one else had a reason to be, except for him. And Haley. Haley. Just thinking about her made Lucas feel numb. But not cold numb. Numb on the inside.   
  
Before he realized it, he was at Haley's house. Getting out of the car, Lucas took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He headed up the sidewalk towards Haley's house and knocked on her door. There was no answer, but Lucas knew that she was there. He opened the door and stepped inside. She was balled up on the couch, clutching her knees to her chest.   
  
As Lucas walked in, their eyes met, but no words were exchanged. Haley got up and pulled her coat on and they both walked down to Lucas's car. He hated doing this, but there was no one else. Her parents had gone down to Charlotte for Christmas and weren't back yet. Besides, they didn't know. No one knew, except for Lucas. And that was the way that Haley wanted it. So Lucas had honored her request for secrecy and had borne the pain and the fear with her so that she wouldn't have to suffer alone. She was his constant companion and he thought he owed her that much, at least. And yet, as they drove, together, he felt more alone than he ever had before.  
  
The glass doors slid open, effortlessly, almost in a welcoming, friendly manner, but no one ever felt welcome in a hospital. Lucas spent a few moments explaining the situation to the nurse sitting behind the front desk. She gave him a phony understanding nod of sympathy and asked him to take a seat, saying that the doctor would be with them shortly.  
  
They called her name at 7:30. Haley and Lucas stood up and started to follow the doctor in the white coat. Before they had gotten three steps, the doctor held up his hand. Lucas was told that he couldn't go with them. Apologies were expressed, but the doctor remained firm in his decision. Haley walked off with the doctor giving Lucas a helplessly scared look before disappearing around the corner.  
  
Lucas went back to the nurse behind the front desk and asked how long these kinds of tests took. The answer was vague; it all depended on the patient and the circumstances. Lucas needed fresh air. He walked back through the friendly sliding doors and outside. After pacing around the parking lot for a while Lucas spotted a man selling fresh flowers on the street corner. He approached the man and bought a dozen of them. Flowers could make anything better.  
  
Flowers didn't make things better. When Haley returned to the hospital waiting room an hour and a half later, she accepted the assortment from Lucas without even seeing them. She seemed to be looking right through them. The doctor gave Lucas the report. With every word, Lucas's face grew paler. By the time the doctor had finished Lucas was nearly transparent. He had expected bad news; everyone does with cancer, but nothing could have prepared him for this. 'Two months,' the doctor had said, 'at the most.'   
  
Lucas and Haley drove back to her house and sat in the car, alone. He was alone and she was alone and they both knew it. But they were alone together and, for the moment, that was all that mattered. Lucas asked how she was doing. She said she was fine before pecking him on the cheek and shutting the door in his face.   
  
As the weeks went by, it showed that she was not fine and eventually Haley's family and friends began to notice. When they could get no satisfactory answer out of Haley as to what was the matter with her, they began to question Lucas. He had covered for her for months, but now it was time to tell the truth. He broke down, and she broke down with him because they were tired of all the secrecy and the lies. Now the truth was out and the truth should have set them free, but it didn't.  
  
As the end of the second month drew near, Lucas found himself to be a swimmer in the sea of emotion. The more time went by, the farther he got from shore. And again, he was alone; alone with Haley. The more he fought the sea, the more he sank. He was the swimmer and she was the brick, dragging him under and drowning him slowly. 


End file.
